Once In A Lifetime
by Cellophane Soldier
Summary: AU, but still bending. Modern day. Katara is starting her junior year of high school. Her best friend is Zuko, a senior. She has been IMing a boy that goes to her school, but she doesn't know who it is. She is slowly falling for this boy. Meanwhile, Aang, a freshman, must figure out how to get Katara to notice him with the help of his hew friend, Toph. KxZ, AxT, SxS R and R!
1. Chapter 1

Once in a Lifetime

"You make me feel like I'm living a teenage dream." Katara opened her eyes blearily, shutting off her alarm. After laying in bed for a few seconds, her eyes snapped open and she jumped up. It was the first day of school! She was excited because this was her junior year. She was finally an upperclassman!

She quickly ran downstairs and scarfed down some breakfast. After that, she spent a lot of time choosing the perfect outfit. She finally decided on a simple blue dress with black tights. She put on some mascara and eyeliner.

"You ready yet?!" Sokka called. "If you don't hurry up, we're going to be late!"

"I'm coming!" Katara yelled back. _God, sometimes Sokka could be annoying_, she thought. She came down the stairs, and Sokka was waiting by the door in blue jeans and a dark blue hoody.

"Let's get going," Sokka said, going out the door and getting into his 2002 Ford. Katara slipped into the passenger seat.

"Don't forget to pick up Aang," Katara reminded her brother. This would be Aang's first day of high school, as he was a freshman. They were family friends with him and had promised to help him out at school.

"Don't worry, I wasn't going to forget the little guy," Sokka said. He spent the rest of the car ride trying out all of his new jokes on Katara. Some of them were really bad, but others were pretty good.

They pulled into Aang's driveway and waited for him. He was waiting for them outside and quickly ran into the car.

"I'm so excited for the first day!" Aang said the second he got in the car. Sokka just laughed at the kid.

"Don't act like you're going to the carnival," he said with a chuckle. "You have to play it cool, or you'll never make it at high school.

_Bzzzz._ Katara heard her phone vibrate and checked it. She smiled when she saw that it was from her best friend, Zuko. _Have you left yet?_

_Yeah. Had to pick up Aang. We'll be at school in about 10._

_ See you soon._

Katara finished her quick texting conversation with Zuko, still smiling. She and Zuko had been friends since she was in the third grade. He was a senior, like her brother, but his sister, Azula, was a junior, like Katara. During lunch in the third grade, Zuko would always come in to check on Azula. He had quickly struck up a friendship with Katara, as she was the only one brave enough to even try talking to Azula.

Katara's phone vibrated again. This time it was from her other best friend, Suki. _U ready 4 our first day as upperclassmen?_

_Of course! Super excited!_

_ Can't wait 2 c u!_

Suki had been on vacation all summer and had only gotten back the day before. Katara and her had kept in contact, but it would still be great to see her friend again.

"Who're you texting?" Sokka asked, peering over at his sister while at a red light.

"Zuko and Suki," Katara replied.

"Ooh, Zuko," Sokka said, wiggling his eyebrows. For some reason, he always thought that Katara liked Zuko as more than a friend.

"Yes, Zuko," Katara said, not breaking eye contact. She didn't want to give him any ideas.

"Who's Zuko?" Aang asked from the back seat as the light turned green.

"One of my best friends," Katara replied. Aang looke slightly confused, but Katara didn't feel like elaborating.

After a few minutes of silence in the car, Sokka couldn't take it. He went to the one topic that he could easily make fun of Katara over.

"So, how's your secret I. doing?" he asked. Katara stared blushing, and Sokka knew that he was making her feel awkward. That's why he had asked the question.

"He's doing good," Katara responded, looking out the window so that Sokka couldn't see the giant smile on her face. Whenever she talked about her IM conversations with FireBoy87, she started to smile and blush. No, she didn't know his real name or what he looked like, but she still knew him. He didn't know any personal information, either. Just in case.

"Have you met him yet? Learned his name?" Sokka asked, being slightly over protective. He didn't want his little sister to get hurt, and didn't want her secret to be found out.

"No, but I will soon," Katara said, trying to calm him. Sadly, that didn't really work.

"Just be careful," he said. "You can never know who these guys on the Internet are. And you don't want anyone to get too close incase the find out." It was just like Sokka to be so blunt about that subject.

"You've been talking to a guy over the Internet?" Aang asked, his eyes wide and a shocked expression on his face. "Isn't that really unsafe?"

"It's over the school cite, so, no, it's not unsafe. He goes to our school," Katara explained to Aang.

"Oh," Aang said, a slightly hurt expression on his face. Katara didn't know what that was about, but she decided to brush it off for now. It was probably nothing.

"We're here," Sokka said, pulling into the school and parking in his spot. Katara quickly got out of the car when she spotted Zuko waiting for her by the door to the school.

"See you later," she said to Sokka and Aan g before taking off. "Hey, you," she said to Zuko when she was within earshot.

"Hey," Zuko said with a smile. He opened up the school door for Katara and they walked inside. He opened his mouth to say something more when he was interrupted.

"Flirting with the juniors now?" Zuko's best friend, Jet, said to him. He walked over and fist-bumped Zuko. "Good to see you, man," he said with a grin.

"Good to see you, too," Zuko said with a grin.

"I'll see you later," Katara said to Zuko, spotting Suki at the other end of the hall.

"Suki!" she called as she got closer. When Suki heard her, a giant grin spread across her face.

"Katara!" she said, running up and hugging her. "I missed you so much! How was your summer?"

"It was great," Katara said. "How about yours?"

"Amazing!" Suki responded. "Kioshi island is amazing in the summer! And I got to visit my grandparents, which is always nice."

Katara continued to talk with Suki as she went to her locker and got her books for the first few classes. Luckily, she and Suki had an almost identical schedule.

"We get to start the year off with precalculus. Oh joy!" Suki said sarcastically. Just then, the warning bell rang, signaling that it was time to get to class.

"Come on, we better get going," Katara said to Suki as she started walking to class.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you all so much for reading this! A special thanks to Brooke Stam, Twin Masks, Charlie'Rocker, and 4minute for reviewing! As most of you asked, yes, there will be bending in this story. I also want to thank Forget-Me-Not Writing and bobfrank for favoriting the story and 4minute, Charlie'Rocker, Edlover23, Twilight Journey, and Twin Masks for adding it to Alerts. Without further ado, chapter 2!**

Chapter 2

Precalculus was interesting. They started off the year with a review of everything they had learned in algebra, and then got introduced to some new concepts. Katara caught on quickly while Suki struggled on some of the concepts. At the end of class, they copied down their homework and then went to Physical Education. It was probably the most fun class of the day.

"This class is great!" Suki exclaimed about halfway through the period. "We get to play sports during school and get credit for it!" Katara also loved Phys Ed, as she called it, but for a slightly different reason. Zuko was in that class with her and Suki.

"How was your first period?" he had asked, surprising her at the beginning of class.

"Good," Katara had replied with a smile after she got over the shock of seeing Zuko. She hadn't expected to have any classes with him, as he was a senior. "How was yours?"

"Eh, same old same old," Zuko had said with a shrug. "I had art first, so we got almost nothing done. Especially since it was all seniors. We all already have senioritis," he added with a laugh.

Katara laughed with him, causing her to not notice the basketball flying her way.

"Watch out!" Zuko said suddenly, noticing the ball and catching it before it could hit Katara.

"Thanks," Katara said quietly, not wanting to admit that she would have been hit if not for him. She was too proud for that. Not that she would admit that she was proud, either.

"No problem," Zuko said with a smile.

"Man, you almost got NAILED!" Jet said, coming up behind Zuko, a grin on his face, as if the thought brought him pleasure. "Good thing you were there to catch it, Zuko," he added with a more mischievous grin.

"Yeah, good thing," Katara mumbled, blushing slightly. She had had a crush on Jet for the longest time, finding him ruggedly handsome. He was also captain of the soccer team, which was a big thing at her school.

Zuko just glared at Jet, connecting the dots. The ball had come from his direction, and he was acting very smug about the whole situation.

The rest of the class went by uneventfully. Jet kept his distance from Zuko, Katara, and Suki because he could tell that he wasn't welcome at the moment. Not that either of the girls noticed that.

Katara would occasionally sneak a glance at Jet, watching his muscles ripple under his evenly toned, tanned skin. Luckily, she was never caught doing this.

Meanwhile, in his freshman English class, Aang was plotting ways to get Katara to notice him. Yeah, he was two years younger, but that didn't matter! He had been in love with her ever since he had met her, which was practically birth. But she never noticed him as anything more than a friend.

He was writing down his latest plan when the girl sitting next to him leaned over and whispered in his ear. "I don't think that those are English notes."

Aang almost jumped out of his seat when she said this. He hadn't noticed that he was being watched. He turned to the girl to say something back when he realized that he didn't know her. And he knew all of the freshman at this school, as they had all come from the same middle school. She had short, dark hair and a hard face, as if she were trying to act tough and pulling it off very well.

That's when he noticed her eyes. They were glazed over, and stared out into nothing, unseeing.

"Are you new here?" Aang asked the girl, forgetting his manners because of his shock.

"Yeah, I am," the girl replied in a nonchalant tone. "I just moved here a few weeks ago."

"I'm Aang," the boy said, offering his hand before he remembered that she couldn't see it.

"Toph," she responded, shaking the hand he had offered. Aang stared at her, his mouth gaping open, wondering how she had done that. "Close your mouth, it's unbecoming of you," Toph said.

Aang quickly shut his mouth, wondering how she had known that it had been open. After a few minutes of wondering about that, his mind went back to the first thing she had said to him. She had said that he wasn't writing down English notes. How had she been able to tell?

He was so distracted for the rest of class that he left his plan to woe Katara unfinished. He hadn't been able to think of a good enough one, his mind always drifting back to the blind girl who sat next to him.

When the bell rang at the end of class, Aang was one of the last ones out of his seat. He wanted to talk to Toph again and find out how she had been able to see when she was clearly blind.

He followed her to her locker, which he realized was just across the hall from his.

"Why are you following me?" he suddenly heard Toph ask. He hadn't seen the girl turn around once, so he couldn't figure out how she knew he was there.

"I-I wanted to talk to you," he stammered out.

"Why?" Toph asked, cocking her head to the side. Aang was silent for a few moments, trying to find the right words that wouldn't sound too accusatory.

"How did you know that I wasn't writing down English notes? And that I followed you here? And where my hand was when you shook it?" he asked, the questions just flowing out.

"I don't know what you're talking about," she said, turning away from him and rummaging through her locker, testing the weight of each book to see which one it was.

Aang just stared at her again, extremely confused. "What do you mean you don't know what I'm talking about?" he said, his temper rising for a second.

"Just drop it, okay?" Toph said, an almost pleading tone to her voice, her expression softening for the first time. Aang was so surprised that he did just that. He decided to stop questioning her. For now.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Again, thanks for all the reviews and favorites! I would list you all out, but that takes too much time and space. So, please enjoy chapter 3!**

Chapter 3

The first day of school went by uneventfully after the first few periods. The teachers handed out the syllabi and told the students what they expected out of them. Some teachers seemed harder than others, like Katara's English teacher. Others seemed easy, like Sokka's math teacher. Sokka wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box, so he hadn't been accepted into Calculus. Instead, he was taking Advanced Math Topics.

"Man, taking Math Topics was the best decision I ever made!" Sokka exclaimed on the car ride home. Katara just laughed.

"You didn't even want to take that class!" she said. "It was the only one your teacher last year would let you take!"

"Well, who says I didn't plan that so that I could take Math Topics?" Sokka said quickly, trying to defend himself and joke at the same time.

"So, how was your first day of school, Aang?" Katara asked, after laughing at her brother a bit more.

"It was pretty good," Aang said with a smile. "I met this new girl, and I think we became friends," he said, biting his lip thoughtfully.

"That's great!" Katara said.

"Was she pretty?" Sokka asked with a grin. "You gonna become a little more than friends, if you get my drift?"

"Yeah, I guess she was cute," Aang said. He hadn't really thought about that. He had been too distracted by her ability to see him even though she was blind. He decided against sharing that part, having gotten the feeling that Toph wanted to keep it a secret. "Can I come over to practice today?" he asked Katara, changing the subject.

"I guess," Katara said with a shrug. "I didn't get much homework, so I'll be free pretty much all afternoon."

"Great," Aang said with a smile. It had been over a week since he had practiced. He had to be careful when he did so that no one would see him. Except for Katara and her family. They already knew his secret. And Katara had a very similar one.

That was one of the main reasons that Aang was in love with her. Besides the fact that she was beautiful and funny and smart, she shared a secret with him. A sort of bond that he didn't have with anyone else. He felt comfortable with Katara in a way that he didn't feel around anyone else.

About fifteen minutes later, they arrived at Aang's house. He took a while getting out of the car because he had a huge backpack, typical of a freshman.

"I'll come by around four thirty," Aang said as he got out of the car.

"Alright," Katara said with a soft smile. "Be ready to work hard," she added sternly. Aang tended to slack off during their training sessions, preferring to joke around with Sokka.

As Aang went into the house, Katara was still smiling softly. But not because of Aang. She was thinking about IMing Fireboy87. Sure, she would have to take a small break to practice with Aang, but besides that she had the whole afternoon to talk with him.

Katara could talk to this guy about pretty much anything. Except her secret, but that was a precautionary thing. Only her family and Aang knew about it. Even Zuko and Suki didn't! Although, she had thought about telling them many times. But she always decided against it, worried about what they would think of her when they found out. They would probably call her a freak and never talk to her again.

It took Katara and Sokka about fifteen minutes to get from Aang's house back to theirs. They lived in a nice sized house out in the country with their Grandmother, whom they called Gran Gran. Their mother had died when they were young, and their dad was in the Navy. He was almost always away, so Katara and Sokka had grown up with Gran Gran.

Also, the house in the country helped with Katara keeping her secret. She was able to practice without fear of being seen. Also, the closest house was two miles away, and it was Suki's. Katara and Sokka had originally carpooled with Suki, but now she preferred to drive herself. School was one of the few places that her parents would let her drive, so she took full advantage of that opportunity.

Katara logged onto the school chatting website, hoping that Fireboy87 would be on. After a few minutes of waiting, it became apparent that he wasn't on. Katara sighed. She had really wanted to talk to him and ask for advice. She wanted to know how to tell if a guy liked you, and how to get a guy to notice her. She really liked Jet, and she wanted advice on how to get him.

Katara signed off of her account, not trusting Sokka enough to leave it up. She went out into the backyard to get some practice in before Aang got there.

She walked over to one of the rainwater barrels that they kept specifically for this purpose. Katara took a deep breath, focusing her mind. Then she lifted her hand, willing the water to rise as well. And it did.

That was Katara's secret. She could control water. She had gotten a lot better over the years and could now do so much with her gift. She could control clouds, to a certain extent, and turn water to ice, and vice versa.

Katara started off with some basic exercises, warming herself up. She moved the water around herself slowly, making it just barely touch her skin. This was to practice her control. After she had done that a few times, she moved on to some target practice.

Katara had set up a shooting range in the backyard, with the cover that Sokka wanted to learn archery. Sokka did use the range on occasion, but only with his boomerang. Katara moved one of the water barrels over to the range and bended a small bit of water into a ball.

Katara took a few deep breaths, taking aim at the target. She threw the ball, willing it to turn into an ice spike. About halfway through its path, it did. The spike hit the target in the bulls-eye. Katara smiled gleefully. She loved it when her ideas actually worked. Katara practiced that trick a few more times before Aang showed up.

"You ready?" he asked excitedly, practically appearing out of nowhere.

"Gah!" Katara exclaimed, the water she was bending crashing to the ground. "What have I told you about sneaking up on me?" she asked exasperatedly.

"Not to," Aang said, slightly abashed. Katara's face softened.

"It's okay, you just scared me. Let's try not to do that next time," she added with a smile.

"Alright," Aang said, a goofy grin spreading across his face. "So, you rady to spar?"


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N:** ** I am SOOOOO sorry that I haven't updated. I had a really busy few weeks before Christmas break, and then I was computerless for Christmas break. My life is still pretty busy now, with midterms coming up and FRC starting, but I will try to update at least once a week. Thank you for your time, for reading my story, and for reviewing, favoriting, and alerting it!**

Chapter 4

Katara grinned at Aang, taking her sparring position. "I'm always ready," she said confidently.

Aang grinned back, taking his own fighting stance. He spread his feet apart and lifted his fists so that they were near his face. Katara was taller and stronger than he was, but he was faster.

Aang was normally a pacifist, but he let himself spar because he wasn't actually fighting, just pretending. Katara started to circle him, making sure to never turn her back on him or tear her eyes away.

After a few seconds of this little stare down, Katara sent a blast of water at Aang, softening the blow just before it hit. This was what they normally did, softening the blows so that neither of them bruised. They didn't want to have to explain away the bruises to their friends.

Katara gave a small smile as her attack hit Aang, glad that she was faster than him at least this once. She normally didn't land many blows, but neither did he. They were pretty evenly matched.

Even though Aang was two years younger than her, Katara didn't mind that he was at the same skill level as she was. He had known about his gift practically from birth, and she had only really started practicing hers when she was seven.

The next hour passed by quickly, with Aang and Katara sparring with each other almost the entire time. They stayed with it for that long because they were working on their fighting endurance. They switched between skill and endurance with every spar session that they had. It was a good way for them to not get tired with the sparring sessions.

When the sparring session was finally over, Aang and Katara collapsed to the ground, exhausted and sweating. They lay on the ground for a few minutes, just catching their breath. Aang's eyes kept wandering over to Katara, his thoughts full of her and how beautiful she looked. Katara didn't notice, her mind too busy analyzing the fight they had just had. She liked to learn from their spars so that in the next one, she could have a slight upper hand.

"That was a good practice," Aang said when he had finally caught his breath. Katara didn't respond immediately, her head still in the spar.

"Yeah," she said after a few moments. "It was." Both Katara and Aang lay on the grass for a few more minutes, neither one sure what to say next. "Well, I guess you better be heading home," Katara finally said. "It'll be getting dark soon."

"I'm not afraid of the dark!" Aang said defensively. Katara just laughed as she sat up.

"I didn't say you were," she said. "I just don't think your parents would want you to walk home in the dark."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Aang said with a sigh. "You're picking me up tomorrow, right?"

"Of course we are!" Katara said with a laugh. "How else would you get to school?"

Aang laughed with her, not really finding the simple joke funny, but wanting her to continue laughing. He loved her laugh.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow," Katara said after she was done laughing. She stood up, helped Aang up, and then walked to her back door. She waved goodbye to Aang, smiled, and then went inside.

Aang fell back down to the ground, a smile on his face. He loved these sparring sessions with Katara. Not that he liked the fighting. He actually hated that. He just liked the time he spent with Katara afterword. Aang stood back up slowly and then made his way home, smiling and thinking about Katara. But for some strange reason, another girl also started creeping into his mind, and this also caused him to smile.

Katara went into her house and logged back on to the school chat site, hoping that Fireboy87 would be on now. She let out a small squeal of excitement when she saw a little green dot next to his name.

_Hey,_ she sent, hoping that he was actually on and hadn't just left his account open.

_Hey,_ he sent back almost seconds later. _How's life?_

_ Pretty good, just had a nice work out. Now I'm beat, but I feel great! _Katara typed.

_ That's great! I just finished working out myself, _he responded. _ It always feels good to relieve some stress in the form of sweat._

_ Why are you stressed?_ Katara asked, feeling slightly concerned.

_Nothing too bad, _he said. _I don't really want to talk about it, though._

_ That's ok, _Katara typed. She bit her lip, mentally contemplating asking the question she had wanted to ask for a while. She finally got up the nerve and asked. _Can I ask for some advice? How do you get a guy to like you?_

_ Why do you ask? _He responded. _Just be yourself. If you have to change to get a guy to notice you, then he's not worth it, _he sent seconds later, not waiting for a response.

_Thanks!_ Katara sent back, already thinking about his advice. _Are guys okay with the girl making the first move?_

_ Depends on the guy,_ Fireboy87 replied._ If you tell me which guy you are crushing over, I can tell you whether or not he'd be okay with it._

_ Jet Henderson,_ Katara sent back after a few seconds, slightly reluctant to give the information.

_DO NOT MAKE THE FIRST MOVE!_ Fireboy87 warned. _HE WILL THINK THAT YOU ARE TRYING TO CRAMP HIS STYLE. He is arrogant like that._

_ Ohh,_ Katara replied, not sure what else to say.

_Let him make the first move._

_ How do I know that he will? _Katara asked, slightly worried.

_Trust me, he will._

_ Thank you,_ Katara said, and she meant it. This was the information that she needed. _I have to go now. Time for dinner!_

_ Talk to you tomorrow? _Fireboy87 asked, but it was too late. Katara had already logged off.

Zuko sat at his computer, a plan formulating in his head. If this girl liked his best friend, he could help her. Only problem was, he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to.


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Sorry for the delay again, I had midterms last week and had to spend a lot of time studying for them. Thanks for all the reviews and followers/alerts. If you like this story, don't forget to review it! Also, should Aang be able to bend all four elements? I can include it if my readers want him to, but if you like him only being an airbender, I can do that to. Leave me your thoughts in a review. Thanks!**

Chapter 5

"Wake up, Sokka!" Katara yelled up the stairs. She had been ready for almost ten minutes already, and Sokka wasn't even awake.

"What time is it?" he asked blearily, walking down the stairs in his pajamas.

"Seven thirty," Katara replied, giving him a small glare. He should have been ready by now. If they didn't leave in five minutes, they would be late to school.

"Wow, I slept in," Sokka said with a yawn and a grin. Katara just scowled at him. "Hey, you should have woken me up earlier," he added. "You know that I'm not a morning person."

"Just hurry up," she said with a sigh. Sokka grinned and scarfed down some breakfast before heading upstairs and changing. He came down in record time, with a minute to spare.

"Let's go!" he said, heading straight for the door.

"About time," Katara muttered, getting into the car after him. "You're just lucky that Aang doesn't need a ride today, or we would never make it to school on time."

"Yeah, I chose the right day to sleep in," Sokka said with a laugh.

"Speaking of which, why _did_ you sleep in?" Katara asked quizzically.

"I guess I stayed up too late," he said with a shrug, avoiding her gaze. Katara looked at him for a few moments, examining his face.

"_Why_ were you up late?" she asked slowly, not totally sure that she wanted an answer.

"I…was on the school chat site," he admitted with a sigh.

"Really?" Katara exclaimed with a squeal. "I thought that you were completely against that kind of thing."

"Yeah, for you," he said, teasingly. "You're my baby sister, and I don't like the idea of you talking to strangers."

"I can take care of myself, Sokka," she said, giving him a disapproving look. "But who were you talking to?" she added after a few minutes.

"I don't know her name," Sokka said with a small blush. "But I know that she is a Junior, which means that she's in your grade. And she's funny, and smart, and pretty…"

"How do you know that she's pretty if you don't know who she is?" Katara asked, raising an eyebrow.

"The way that she talks," Sokka said with a shrug. "And sometimes you can just tell when someone is pretty."

Katara smiled and laughed. "Sure, Sokka," she giggled.

"I'm meeting her at the homecoming dance," Sokka said quietly, a hint of pride in his voice.

"Wow, that's coming up, isn't it?" Katara said, completely thrown off.

"Yeah, it's in two weeks," he responded. "Why, haven't you been asked yet?"

"No, not yet," Katara admitted with a sigh.

"Then why don't you meet your mystery friend then," Sokka suggested. "That's what I'm doing."

"That's…Actually a good idea," Katara said, slightly surprised.

"Hey, I have good ideas all the time!" Sokka exclaimed.

"You keep telling yourself that," she said with a laugh. But she kept what he said in mind, thinking of how to best ask Fireboy87 without actually asking him. Also, she was still secretly hoping that Jet would ask her, although she had no reason to think that he would.

They arrived at school with just enough time to get to class. Katara rushed in just as the bell rung. She quickly sat down next to Suki and took out her books, waiting for the teacher to start.

"Why were you almost late?" Suki whispered over when the teacher was writing something on the board.

"Sokka was up all night on the chat sight and then slept in," Katara whispered back with a shrug. Suki had a small look of surprise on her face for a second, and then quickly covered it up. But not before Katara had seen it. She looked at Suki quizzically and was about to ask her what was up when the teacher turned around again and started collecting the homework.

Aang was sitting in his chair in first period, slouching down and thinking. He was trying to plan how he would ask Katara to the dance. Toph sat in the seat next to him, sitting upright, acting like the perfect lady.

This surprised Aang, so he asked, "What's up? You're acting all…proper," he said, trying to come up with the right word.

"My parents are getting a bit stricter," she said back. "They said that if I don't start making progress, they'll pull me out and home school me."

"Wow, that's awful," Aang said. He had become pretty good friends with Toph since the start of the year, and he didn't want her to leave. "Progress in what?" he added.

"Friends, grades, manners," she listed off. "Any or all of the above categories."

"Well, I'm your friend," he said. "Doesn't that count for something?"

"They think that I made you up," Toph said with a shrug. "They won't believe me until they have actual proof."

"How do I prove it to them?" Aang asked. He didn't want to lose one of his very few friends.

"I don't know," Toph said, shaking her head. "Maybe you could meet them?"


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: I'm so sorry it's been so long! School got really hectic. But now I'm on spring break! Also, who does and doesn't want an Aang/Toph romance? Because I don't want them to end up alone, so they either get together or I create OC's. Again, REALLY sorry about the long wait period. Please review! I love Reviews!**

Chapter 6

After class, Katara went to Sokka's locker so that he could drive her home. Suki was with her, and they were talking about the upcoming dance.

"So who do you think is going to ask you?" Suki asked Katara. Katara just shrugged and blushed slightly.

"I have someone who I _hope _will ask me," she said, not actually answering the question. "How about you?"

"I'm meeting someone there," Suki said, trying to act nonchalant. This just confirmed Katara's suspicions. When she had mentioned that Sokka had been up all night chatting online, Suki had looked surprised. What she had just said proved Katara's theory that Suki was Sokka's mystery date.

"Hey guys, what are you talking about?" Sokka asked, appearing from nowhere.

"Just the dance," Katara said with a wave of her hand. Suki smiled shyly at Sokka, but he didn't seem to notice.

"Who ya gonna ask?" Sokka said in an extremely mocking voice. Katara just hit him lightly on the shoulder, a small smile on her face.

"You ready to leave?" she asked him, instead of answering the question.

"Yeah, but why do you want to leave already? School's been over for all of ten minutes."

"There's something that I need to do when I get home, and I'd like to get it done," Katara said, being very cryptic.

"Fine!" Sokka said with a sigh. "We can go. See ya later, Suki," he added with a half wave in her direction.

The drive home was almost silent. Sokka was still slightly annoyed that Katara had made him leave right after school. He had wanted to hang around for a bit and talk to some friends.

As soon as they pulled into the driveway, Katara hoped out of the car and ran to her computer. Luckily, Fireboy87 was on.

_Hey, what's up?_ Katara asked him, trying to get a conversation started.

_Not much, just doing homework. You?_ He responded, almost instantly.

_Just got back home_ Katara typed. _I was wondering, what are you doing for the dance that's coming up? _Katara wasn't usually this direct, but it was the only way she could think of to ask him.

_I don't know, _he responded. After a few seconds, another message appeared. _Would you like to meet me there?_

Katara gave a squeal of joy. She didn't even have to ask him! He asked her! _I would love to,_ she responded.

_Great! I will meet you by the punch bowl!_ After that, Katara signed off, glad that she got it done. She had a date to the dance, even if it wasn't Jet.

Zuko signed off after Waterlover09 did. After sitting at his desk for a few minutes, he picked up his phone and dialed a number.

"What do you want, Zuko?" Jet asked when he answered.

"I have a favor to ask you," Zuko said, treading carefully. If he asked this the wrong way, Jet would most definitely say no.

"My answer depends on the favor. If it's something really stupid, then I'm already saying no."

"I know this girl," Zuko started.

"Is she hot?" Of course. That was just like Jet, not even caring if she was nice, what age, what Zuko was going to ask. Just whether or not she was hot.

"Yes," Zuko responded. There was no other way he could get Jet to agree to this, and it was possible that he wasn't lying. Zuko didn't' even know what this girl looked like.

"Alright, then, I'm listening," Jet said. Step one, complete. Get Jet to actual listen to the idea. Step two, try and get him to go through with it.

"So, I met this girl online, and she has a giant crush on you," Zuko said.

"Who doesn't have a crush on me?" Jet asked rhetorically. "Sometimes I even think that I have a crush on myself."

"Well, I was wondering if you could take her to the dance," Zuko said, acting more confident than he actually felt. There was no way that Jet was going to agree to this.

"Alright, why not," Jet said, and Zuko could hear the shrug in his voice. "I've always wanted to go on a blind date where the girl already knows me."

"The thing is, I told her that I would meet her at the dance," Zuko added, completely shocked that Jet had agreed to go.

"Why would you do that?" Jet asked, his voice full of confusion. "And then ask me to take her? Not very well thought through, bud."

"No, it is well thought out," Zuko said, getting to the complicated part of the plan. "I want you to pretend you're me."

"As similar as we look, I don't think I could pull that off," Jet said. "I would have to make myself look less handsome, and I don't think that that is possible."

"No, she doesn't know what I look like," Zuko said. "And she doesn't know that I'm not you. It'll be a huge surprise and she will be extremely excited."

"So I would get to make her life with my presence?" Jet asked. He always loved being the center of attention.

"I guess so, if you want to put it that way," Zuko said, mumbling slightly.

"I'll do it."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: I'm soooooo sorry about not updating! School has been really hectic, and then I got my wisdom teeth out and couldn't' concentrate on anything! I will try to update more regularly, but I don't know my work schedule yet. Please Review! They really make my day!**

Chapter 7

Katara sat in a chair, looking into her vanity while Suki did her hair. Sokka was over at one of his friend's houses, doing whatever guys did before dances. He would pick them up on his way to the dance, along with Aang.

"You're going to look beautiful," Suki said, shaking Katara back into attention. "Who ever your mystery guy is, he won't be able to keep his eyes off of you." Katara looked in the mirror and smiled back at Suki. She was right, and she had done her hair wonderfully, adding her mother's blue necklace, which accentuated her blue eyes.

"Thank you," Katara said, turning to Suki, who was dressed in a simple green gown, wearing make up that made her brown eyes pop. "Neither will yours, though I'm not sure he's a total mystery." There she went again, hinting that she knew who Suki's new friend was. But that was because she did, even though Suki didn't even know.

"Will you stop pretending like you know who it is?" Suki said with a laugh. "I know will be both be equally surprised to find handsome men waiting for us at the dance. Hopefully they are taller than us," she added as an after thought.

"Don't worry, he is," Katara said quietly with a small smile. She had pieced it together and concluded that Sokka was the person Suki had been talking to. While she thought that Suki could do better, she was happy for Sokka. She had never thought he would actually be able to charm a girl. He was funny and everything, he just always had an air about him, like he knew what he was doing, but you could tell that he really didn't.

Suki pretended like she didn't hear Katara, and just kept talking about what she hoped her mystery guy looked like. "Who do you think is your mystery man?" Suki asked Katara, a sly grin on her face.

"I don't know," she said with a sigh. "But I know who I hope it is."

"Who?"

"I really hope that it's Jet," Katara said shyly. Suki just squealed. She knew that Katara had had a crush on him for the longest time.

"Has he given you any reason to?" Suki asked, wanting to analyze everything and come to the right conclusion, but the girl side of her just wanting to think that it was Jet.

"He hasn't given me any reason not to," Katara said with a mischievous grin. For all she knew, she could be right. It could be Jet, just acting slightly different because no one was watching him.

"That's enough reason for me," Suki said with a laugh. "I don't know who I want my guy to be. I mean, it would be nice if I already knew him, but then the mystery aspect of it was also really great. Like, what if knowing him makes me not like him anymore?" There she went again, ranting about her fears. Suki usually wasn't one to crack under pressure or get nervous, but this dance really had her on edge.

"Whoever it is, I'm sure you'll have a great time tonight," Katara said with a laugh. And she meant it. Especially if she was right, Katara knew that Suki would enjoy her date. Just then there was a honk from outside. "Sokka's here," Katara said, slipping on her shoes and rushing downstairs, Suki right behind her, moving extremely quickly and gracefully for being in heels.

"You both look great," Sokka said with a smile as they got in the car. "Now hurry up, I have a date that I have to get to." He said it jokingly, but Katara could hear the worry in his voice. He tried to play it off, but Katara knew him too well. He was nervous. And scared.

"I bet you do," Katara said quietly, smiling to herself. They drove to Aang's house and picked him up.

"Are you excited for the dance?" Suki asked Aang.

"Yeah," he said with a goofy grin. "It'll be my first one."

"Rule number one of being a high school guy," Sokka said with a fake serious voice. "Never say you are excited for a dance. It makes you sound girly." He laughed after that, and Aang half-heartedly joined in.

As they pulled up to the school, Katara took a deep breath. For better or for worse, the dance was about to start.

**So, again, should Toph and Aang get together? If not, should I create Oc's for them? Please, give me some feedback! That's why we haven't seen much of them. I just don't know where I want their relationship to go.**


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